ADA APP-1 Pedal Review

Imagine you have an amplifier,
and it’s pretty good but
you want it to do more. You’re
not interested in software or
digital modeling and you don’t
want to buy yet another amplifier.
How do you put what you
already have over the top? ADA
might have the answer in the
form of the APP-1 preamp.

ADA, which is legendary for
both its vintage MP-1 preamp
and classic flanger, took a very
fundamental, front-end approach
to tone shaping with the APP-1.
The APP-1 takes two Fender
Twin-style tone stacks and pairs
them with ADA’s patent-pending
D-Torsion Core technology,
which is designed to help tailor
an amplifier’s reactivity.

The APP-1 uses all solid-state
analog circuitry and analog potentiometers.
Given the vociferousness
with which tube fans insist
that solid-state technology can
never achieve the dynamic nature
of vacuum tubes, the effectiveness
of the APP-1 might be a hard
sell. But the fact is, the APP-1 is
a beautifully natural preamp of
impressive transformative power.

Something Old,
Something New
ADA built the APP-1 to take
a beating and keep kicking.
It’s made of heavy-gauge, coldrolled
steel, all the knobs have
a smooth, sturdy feel, and the
switches click without audible
pops. Aesthetically speaking, it’s
classic ADA style all the way—
reminiscent of the MP-1, but
with smart red and green markers
on the knobs to denote the
different channels.

The APP-1 has a lot of
controls. That’s not surprising
when you consider that
it’s essentially a 2-channel preamp
with independent channel
voicings and EQs. Each channel
has three voicing options—clean,
overdrive, and distortion—followed
by drive, bass, middle,
treble, and master knobs. The
EQ controls are derived from a
Fender-style tone stack.

Then there’s a boost footswitch
with a corresponding
level knob that increases output
up to 12 dB, a preamp +
boost/boost only switch, an in/
out switch for the FX loop, a
FX return level control, and a
switch to select between truebypass
and silent-tuning mode.

Each channel has a dynamics
knob that moves from “squeeze”
to “bloom,” and they’re key to
many of the APP-1’s most impressive
capabilities. While you might
be justified assuming the control
is a simple compression circuit
or harmonic exciter, in truth it’s
something much deeper. And
even after a week with the pedal I
had just started to grasp its potential.
It can go from starved germanium
transistor tweeze when set
all the way to squeeze, to typical
tube-amp dynamics at noon, to
dynamic ranges exceeding just
about any tube amp if you set
the knob to full bloom. This
D-Tortion circuit is so interactive
that it can be tricky to master the
pedal’s nuances right out of the
box. But a little homework makes
the effort well worthwhile.

I’ll Be Your Mirror
In the studio, the APP-1 gives
you more flexibility for situations
from tracking to re-amping. But
I found the pedal really excels
in live settings because of how
interactively it works with your
amp. With a Fender U.S. Lone
Star Stratocaster and Gibson
Firebird III on one end of the
signal chain and the APP-1 running
into the effects return of
a Fender ProSonic 2x12, I was
amazed at how many different
amp tones I could get.

Ratings

Pros:
Incredible dynamic and tone-shaping capabilities
for the money.

Cons:
Still subject to any of the existing weaknesses
of whatever power amp, cabinet and speakers
it is plugged into.

The APP-1 is especially good
at conjuring Fender and Mesa/
Boogie models. You can cop
British-style growl too, especially
using the overdrive voice. It’s pretty
impressive that without the aid of
software, APP-1 gets in the ballpark
of so many classic amp tones.

In performance, it’s the ability
to switch between two wildly
different voices that find the
APP-1 paying big dividends.
Once you have a feel for how
to tailor the pedal’s EQ and
dynamic characteristics, you
can set one channel for Carl
Perkins “Matchbox” twang
and the other channel for
the muscular overdrive
of Clapton’s Marshall on
the Bluesbreakers’ “All
Your Love.” If you play
blues, R&B, or country
gigs, this box could be
indispensible.

The Verdict
The APP-1 is not an amp emulation.
And variables like your
amp’s power section, cabinet, and
speaker type mean you won’t nail
a specific amp tone with 100-percent
authenticity. But will you be
able to achieve unmistakably Vox
AC30-like dynamics and tone
from a Fender ProSonic? Yes,
indeed you can.

The APP-1 has a steeper
learning curve than some preamps
and pedals I have played in
the past. But the possibilities are
far greater than any preamp I’ve
come across. This pedal is deep
and powerful. And when you
consider the small army of amplifiers
it would take to emulate the
tones within the APP-1, it has
to be one of the most affordable
ways to significantly expand the
sonic range of your amp while
retaining real analog dynamics.

If you’re a session guitarist,
playing in a cover band, trying
to tour internationally on
the cheap, or just an incurable
studio rat, it’s impossible not to
be impressed by what this very
powerful pedal can do.